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No 6471

Wednesday 28 June 2017

Vol cxlvii No 37

pp. 686–708

Reports

First-stage Report of the Council on the alteration and refurbishment of two buildings on the Old Addenbrooke’s site

The Council begs leave to report to the University as follows:

1. In this Report the Council is seeking approval in principle for the refurbishment and alteration of two buildings on the Old Addenbrooke’s site as set out below.

2. The MRC Toxicology Unit is expected to transfer to the University in March 2018. The Unit is currently based in Leicester, in accommodation leased from the University of Leicester. Space is to be provided for the Unit in Cambridge, principally in a refurbished laboratory facility on Tennis Court Road (building E025 in the plan below). Work will also be undertaken to improve links and create shared facilities with the Department of Pharmacology; some refurbishment within the Pharmacology Building (building E030 in the plan) will be required to accommodate activity displaced by the core works. The building works proposed in this Report will support the development of the Cambridge Academy of Therapeutic Sciences, an initiative that promotes the development of therapeutics and the integration of industry into academic activities.

3. Building E025 has for several years hosted the Wellcome Trust / Medical Research Council Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, which will move to a new purpose-built facility on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus in 2018. The building has also accommodated a number of research groups from the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, which have recently moved to their new building on the West Cambridge site, and the Cambridge Systems Biology Centre. The Systems Biology Centre is made up of three groups, two of which will move to space in the Department of Genetics; a third will remain in the current building.

4. The buildings are arranged around an east-facing hard-landscaped pedestrian and cycle courtyard. Pedestrian access to both buildings is from Tennis Court Road. A new shared reception for the buildings will be created, opening onto the outdoor plaza and feeding into a central core that will house shared seminar/meeting rooms, administration areas, and shared café and social interaction space, improving links between the two buildings and providing a point of focus for interactions. A Cryo-Electron Microscope Imaging Suite housed in refurbished space on the ground floor of the Pharmacology Building will share technical support, knowledge, and resources with two further machines in the nearby Sanger Building. The project will refurbish 3870m2 (Net Assignable Area) of space.

5. A Concept Case for the project was approved by the Planning and Resources Committee on 17 May 2017. A Full Case will be prepared and a Second-stage Report will be published in due course to seek approval for implementation of the project. The budget is £20m, with contributions of £14m from the University’s Capital Fund and £6m from the MRC. The transfer of the MRC Toxicology Unit is being managed within a programme of work, with this building project comprising one element. The date of legal transfer to the University is proposed to be 1 March 2018. Physical relocation of the Unit to Cambridge will follow completion of the building project, which is scheduled for early 2020. Should the transfer not take place as anticipated, the investment would nonetheless provide a benefit to the University, delivering newly refurbished high-quality research space for which a number of uses could be anticipated.

6. A site plan is shown below.

7. The Council recommends:

I. That approval in principle be given for the works outlined in this Report.

II. That the Director of Estate Strategy be authorized to apply for detailed planning approval in due course.

28 June 2017

L. K. Borysiewicz, Vice-Chancellor

Nicholas Gay

Philippa Rogerson

Chad Allen

Nicholas Holmes

John Shakeshaft

Ross Anderson

Alice Hutchings

Sara Weller

Richard Anthony

Stuart Laing

I. H. White

R. Charles

Michael Proctor

Jocelyn Wyburd

Stephen J. Cowley

Site plan: proposed building refurbishment on the Old Addenbrooke’s site

First-stage Report of the Council on the construction of a new Shared Facilities Hub building in West Cambridge

The Council begs leave to report to the University as follows:

1. In this Report the Council is seeking approval in principle for the construction of a new Shared Facilities Hub building on the West Cambridge site (‘the SFH Building’).

2. The SFH Building will be an attractive, multi-use facility at the heart of the West Cambridge site. It will be located on the East Paddocks site to the west of JJ Thomson Avenue and to the south of the new central gardens and new Cavendish Laboratory. The Department of Veterinary Medicine will continue to operate in its current location and more intensively use the West Paddocks.

3. The SFH Building will extend to three storeys and comprise approximately 4,700m2 of gross internal area. The accommodation to be provided will include a new shared library/learning information hub, shared teaching/meeting rooms, new catering outlets and social space (to include a cafeteria and café bar), a retail space, and a pastoral office and contemplation room. The SFH Building will capitalize on the opportunities presented by its location adjacent to the new central gardens to create a building with internal and external interest.

4. A key objective is to create modern, flexible facilities which meet current standards and which are adaptable to meet different needs and requirements in the future. The target for the SFH Building is to achieve the BREEAM Excellent standard.

5. The capital cost of the proposed development is estimated to be £40m. This includes allowances for free-standing furniture and equipment, and IT and AV installations. The majority of funding is expected to come from the Capital Fund. A smaller proportion of funding is expected to come from philanthropic sources; £5m is targeted at this stage.

6. In addition to the kitchens required to service the catering outlets in the SFH Building itself, the brief for the SFH Building includes the provision of an alternative location for the University’s Central Production Kitchen (CPK), which is currently located in the University Centre at Granta Place. As well as supporting the requirements of the catering operations in the University Centre, the CPK produces food products for sale in catering outlets and event catering across the University estate. The option to re-locate the production kitchen capability to the SFH Building is retained by providing shell space within the footprint of the SFH Building with a view to fitting this out in the future if or when the existing CPK in the University Centre is closed.

7. A Concept Case for the project was approved by the Planning and Resources Committee on 21 June 2017. Further details relating to the design, maintenance, capital, and recurrent costs of the project, and sources of funding will be brought to future meetings of the Buildings Committee and the Planning and Resources Committee. A Full Case will be prepared and a Second-stage Report will be published in due course to seek approval for implementation of the project.

8. A Full planning application will be prepared for the scheme which is consistent with, but separate from, the Outline planning application for West Cambridge (Reporter, 6387, 2014–15, p. 544) which has yet to be determined by the Local Planning Authority (LPA). The strategy to submit a Full planning application for the SFH Building rather than wait to submit a Reserved Matters application under the Outline consent has been agreed with the LPA and is intended to provide greater certainty over the timetable for the project.

9. There will be extensive cycle parking located close to the entrance and arrival points of the new building. Parking for servicing and maintenance vehicles will be provided within the curtilage of the SFH Building site and disabled parking will be provided close to the entrance on JJ Thomson Avenue. Site-wide car parking will be developed in accordance with the West Cambridge Site Masterplan. Contractor parking during the construction of the SFH Building will be controlled through a construction phase management plan to be agreed during the contractor procurement process. The management plan will control construction logistics to minimize impact on existing activities on the West Cambridge site.

10. The intention is to construct the SFH Building at the same time as the adjacent Cavendish III project (Reporter, 6455, 2016–17, p. 362). This will enable construction activity on these neighbouring sites to be co-ordinated and will deliver the catering facilities in the SFH Building in time for the opening of Cavendish III. It will also reduce future construction activity adjacent to the most vibration-sensitive areas of the Cavendish III building.

11. A plan showing the location of the proposed building is shown below. Drawings of the proposed development are displayed for the information of the University in the Schools Arcade and are reproduced online at http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/cam-only/offices/planning/building/plans_and_drawings/.

12. The Council recommends:

I. That approval in principle be given for the construction of a new Shared Facilities Hub building in West Cambridge.

II. That the Director of Estate Strategy be authorized to apply for detailed planning approval in due course.

28 June 2017

L. K. Borysiewicz, Vice-Chancellor

Nicholas Gay

Philippa Rogerson

Chad Allen

Nicholas Holmes

John Shakeshaft

Richard Anthony

Alice Hutchings

Sara Weller

R. Charles

Stuart Laing

I. H. White

Stephen J. Cowley

Michael Proctor

Jocelyn Wyburd

Site plan: proposed new Shared Facilities Hub building in West Cambridge

Report of the Council on a new geological collections building for the Department of Earth Sciences

The Council begs leave to report to the University as follows:

1. In this Report the Council is seeking approval for a new geological collections building for the Department of Earth Sciences, to be located on the University’s Madingley Rise site.

2. The Department of Earth Sciences’ geological conservation laboratory and climate-controlled collections store, the A. G. Brighton Building at Madingley Rise, is full beyond capacity. The Department makes use of stores in the Atlas Building at West Cambridge and a subsidiary store on the North West Cambridge site. The buildings at West and North West Cambridge are in a poor state of repair and require frequent reactive maintenance. Continued use of these buildings risks compromising the condition of the collections, which are an important and widely used resource for palaeontology, petrology, and mineralogy research.

3. The scheme involves the demolition of an existing timber built structure known as the Non-Magnetic Hut. This will provide an open space to the south of the A. G. Brighton Building to erect the proposed single-storey structure. The A. G. Brighton Building already hosts the Department’s conservation and cataloguing staff; creating the new storage accommodation adjacent to the existing facilities will provide considerable benefits with regard to movement of staff and samples. Care will be taken so that existing stored materials are not affected by vibration and existing storage facilities remain functioning during the building works.

4. The new building shown in the accompanying plan would be constructed in a single phase and would provide a total additional gross internal area of 720m2. The estimated cost of the project is within the range £2.1m–£2.3m, with funding from the Department of Earth Sciences, the School of the Physical Sciences, and the Minor Works Fund. It is hoped to submit a planning application during September 2017 so that work can begin no later than February 2018, subject to authorization of the scheme by the Resource Management Committee.

5. Drawings of the proposed scheme are displayed for the information of the University in the Schools Arcade and are available online at http://www.prao.admin.cam.ac.uk/capital-planning/plans-and-drawings. A site plan is shown below.

6. The Council recommends:

I. That approval is given for the demolition of the Non-Magnetic Hut and construction of a new geological collections building as described in this Report.

II. That the Director of Estate Strategy be authorized to apply for detailed planning approval in due course.

28 June 2017

L. K. Borysiewicz, Vice-Chancellor

Nicholas Gay

Philippa Rogerson

Chad Allen

Nicholas Holmes

John Shakeshaft

Ross Anderson

Alice Hutchings

Sara Weller

Richard Anthony

Stuart Laing

I. H. White

R. Charles

Michael Proctor

Jocelyn Wyburd

Stephen J. Cowley

Site plan: proposed new geological collections building for the Department of Earth Sciences